About Our Organization
TeamWatters, Inc. was founded by the husband and wife team of
Dennis and Tammy Watters of Moro, Illinois. TeamWatters is
a not-for-profit volunteer organization that specializes in
assisting law enforcement in recovery of remains, vehicles and
items. Dennis is a
life-long fisherman and he and Tammy have participated in multiple
tournaments around the midwest and southern states winning
regional and national titles.
In 2005 Dennis acquired a Humminbird Side Image Sonar unit to aid in the tournaments.
While testing the unit near his home in the waters of the Mississippi River at
Alton, IL, Dennis found what he believed to be
a car in the river. Remembering an incident three years
prior in which a retired school teacher's car plunged into the
water while she was parking and that the car and body were never recovered, he immediately contacted Alton Police. The
police
were initially skeptical as the area had been swept previously
by a professional searcher and nothing was located. It took a lot of communication
with Humminbird and software updates being e-mailed almost daily
to improve the images,
but they eventually were convinced the image was the car they
were seeking. They sent in divers after
Dennis marked the location for them with GPS and the car and body were
recovered. After three long years the family was finally
able to give her a proper burial and begin the process of
healing.
TeamWatters was born from that incident. Dennis had prior
experience in water recovery through the Wood River Volunteer
Emergency Corp, assisting in the recovery of a number of
drowning victims with his father, also a corp member at that
time, using traditional "dragging" methods. Side image
sonar provides a much more accurate method of locating
items or bodies and, in the case of human recovery, does no
damage to the body. It is also safer for divers as they
have a specific location to dive and have a general idea what to
expect when they go down for recovery missions.
TeamWatters was contacted by Texas EquuSearch when they heard
of the recovery and began working with them whenever a water
recovery was necessary. Together they have assisted in
several high-profile cases where bodies, vehicles and other
items were recovered allowing law enforcement to build cases
against criminals who thought the murky depths of rivers
and lakes was a safe hiding place. They have also assisted
in the recovery of boating accident and drowning victims ranging
from children to senior citizens.
It is not uncommon for TeamWatters to pack up
from a search one evening and be on the road the next morning to
a new search location. They have recently conducted two
recoveries in Texas only to pack up for Oklahoma to search for a
weapon and leave there to arrive 2 days later in Indiana to
search for a homicide victim and while on their way home get
called to Georgia to aid in a search for a boating accident
victim. They are available on very short notice and
willing to answer a call from cooperating agencies with their
requests if at all possible.
TeamWatters can also work with agencies to train their
personnel in the use of side image sonar equipment. They
have worked closely with Humminbird Corporation to test software
updates for the sonar equipment which helped launch a whole new
marketing sector for the company. Dennis has designed and
built his own equipment stand and shadow filter for the sonar
screen to compliment the equipment.
Our Mission
To search waterways as thoroughly as
possible and
to do everything in our power
to bring loved ones home and provide
closure to their family,
To use the utmost discretion and
confidentially when
working with families and agencies,
To assist law enforcement agencies in the
recovery and preservation of evidence and
To volunteer our time to accomplish the
above tasks in the fastest response time possible.
Tammy checks equipment before heading out
Dennis shows officials images of a submerged car
Photo by Jennifer Lyles,
Muskogee Phoenix
Photo by John Badman, Alton Telegraph
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